A study commissioned by the Colorado Tourism Office and presented to the office’s board of directors on Wednesday shows legal weed as a growing motivator for trips to Colorado — conflicting with the mantra of tourism officials statewide that savvy marketing alone is responsible for record visitation and spending in the last two years.

While the state’s “Come to Life” ad campaign is certainly successful, surveys in October and November of potential summertime visitors who were exposed to the state’s tourism ads revealed that the marijuana laws influenced vacation decisions more than 48 percent of the time.

“I think it is rearing its head as a significant travel and tourism amenity for visitors coming to Colorado,” said Al White, who retired as boss of the Colorado Tourism Office in August and now serves on the board of a cannabis tourism company.

But the question, the survey’s director said, is whether that influence was positive or negative. Only 8 percent of the Colorado visitors who responded to the survey said they visited a marijuana dispensary. [Read more at The Denver Post]